Berbatov antics push Jol closer to the exit

Players like Dimitar Berbatov, for example, top scorer last season, utter disgrace this season and last night in particular, after he was left out of the side to play Newcastle by a manager desperately clinging to his job.

When Spurs fell two goals behind, and Jol looked behind him for inspiration, Berbatov needed to be asked, or told, three times to shift himself to even warm up and put in what, it transpired,was a half-hearted and ineffective shift.

In fact, by the time the Bulgaria striker had stripped and appeared as Steed Malbranque's replacement, Tottenham had clawed one back from the two-goal lead Newcastle had gratefully received thanks to Michael Dawson's unexpectedly generous defending.

Ireland manager Stephen Staunton remarked last week that his captain Robbie Keane 'could not hit a barn door' and, inevitably after squandering two reasonable first-half chances, Jol's stand-in skipper scored from close range in the 57th minute after Darren Bent's header had hit a post.

But if Jol was desperately seeking an equaliser from his three-man strikeforce, he was to be disappointed and it was Newcastle substitute James Milner who settled the contest and fans' nerves.

Milner was just as surprised as Berbatov to find himself among the substitutes, particularly after his bright performance for England's Under 21s in Cork last week, but if he was upset, he decided on a more productive course of action to send a message to his manager Sam Allardyce, who dropped Milner to find a place for Turkey midfielder Emre.

The former Leeds youngster's fine 74th-minute volley flew beyond the dive of Radek Cerny, who earned a rare start as the injured Paul Robinson's replacement and had made two fine first-half saves to keep Newcastle at bay.

Such as when Michael Owen shaped his body in that familiar way of his after 27 minutes, running on to Emre's clever through ball.

Cerny quickly read the England striker's body language and pulled off an excellent one-handed save.

After he had saved again to deny Geremi, who struck a right-foot free-kick round the wall, the Czech keeper looked to be heading to the break with a clean sheet, until Obafemi Martins stepped up with his third goal of the season in the final minute of the first half.

Spurs centre back Dawson failed to beat Martins to Jose Enrique's long pass, allowing the Nigeria forward to chest the ball down and thump a left-footed half-volley past Cerny, whose foot directed the ball into the top corner.

Charles N'Zogbia was replaced by Milner at half-time, with Emre taking over corner duties.

When his first kick arrived, Cacapa lost Dawson in the area and leapt unopposed at the near post to drill his header into the top corner for his first Newcastle goal since the former Lyon captain left France.

Jol was distinctly unimpressed. "If you concede goals like that you can't expect to win," he said. "Before the game we tell the players who to pick up, but it was a near post header, disastrous. Every time we tried something they scored."

Tottenham had almost grabbed a controversial 14th-minute lead, when the visitors were allowed to take a quick free-kick while Gareth Bale was on the ground calling for treatment.

Jermaine Jenas, whose every touch was booed by the home crowd after his unhappy spell at Newcastle, slipped the ball neatly into the area for Keane while Newcastle defenders looked to referee Steve Bennett to deal with Bale's problem - an injury which forced his withdrawal six minutes later and is expected to keep him out for several weeks.

Keane played on. Shay Given recognised the danger and saved at his feet but the Ireland keeper was clearly unhappy with Bennett and his international team-mate.

The Newcastle keeper raced to the referee, who was near the halfway line, to remonstrate, and given Bennett's reputation was perhaps fortunate not to be booked for dissent.

Aside from two half chances which fell to Keane, that was the visitors' best opportunity to break the deadlock. The Spurs captain's poor luck continued with a wild shot into the Newcastle supporters and a tame effort into Given's hands at the near post.

It was all more than satisfactory for Allardyce, who was asked if this was his brand of 'sexy football' - a term used by one of his many predecessors, Ruud Gullit, and many more besides on Tyneside over the years.

"I only play winning football," he said, before giving the matter some more thought. "But if you thought it was sexy, that's fine by me."

NEWCASTLE: Given 7; Beye 7, Cacapa 8, Faye 7, Jose Enrique 7; Geremi 7, Butt 8, Emre 7 (Barton 71min, 6), N'Zogbia 6 (Milner 46, 7); Martins 7, Owen 6 (Rozehnal 79). Booked: Beye, Butt.

TOTTENHAM: Cerny 7; Chimbonda 5, Dawson 4, Kaboul 5, Lee 5; Malbranque 5 (Berbatov 58, 3), Jenas 6, Zokora 6, Bale 5 (Tainio 20, 6); Keane 7, Bent 5 (Lennon 78). Booked: Bale, Chimbonda.

Man of the match: Nicky Butt.

Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent).